1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image pickup apparatus, and more particularly to such apparatus capable of receiving image data by controlling an external equipment.
2. Related Background Art
There are already known a digital camera and a digital video camera, capable of picking up an image and recording it as digital data. Such digital camera is usually provided with a digital interface such as USB, and, by a connection with an external computer through such digital I/F, is capable of transmitting the picked-up image data to the computer.
There is also conceived a system in which a digital camera and a printer are connected by a digital I/F and the picked-up image data are transmitted to the printer for enabling a printing (for example cf. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-354382).
There is also proposed a system in which an image scanner and a computer are connected and a start of a reading operation is instructed from the computer to the scanner to read still image data by the scanner, and the read image data are transmitted to the computer (for example cf. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-53512).
There is further conceived a configuration for a digital camera, in which the digital camera is set at an ordinary camera mode when it is not connected with a computer, and is set at a scanner mode when it is connected with a computer but is not equipped with a hard disk (for example cf. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-191410).
However, in case of utilizing a digital camera or a digital video camera as an image scanner as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H08-191410, there may be encountered drawbacks such as a difficulty in the method of fixing the camera or a deficiency of illuminating light amount for the image pickup object.
More specifically, in case it is required to fix an object exactly in the horizontal/vertical direction or to secure a sufficient light amount for the object, an image of the object can be more effectively picked up by an image scanner rather than a digital camera or a digital video camera.
On the other hand, in case of recording a still image picked up by an image scanner onto a recording medium such as a memory card provided on a digital camera or a digital video camera, it has been necessary to connect the scanner with an external computer, then to fetch a still image, picked up by the scanner by controlling the scanner from such external computer, into the computer and to transfer the image from the external computer to a recording medium of the digital camera or the digital video camera, and troublesome procedures are therefore involved.